Sepp Blatter to stand for re-election

The 78-year-old, who was speaking during a public discussion with Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in Zurich, said he will seek re-election in May 2015.

"I want to do it," he said in Swiss newspaper Blick. "Because it is not over yet. My term might come to an end, but my mission is not finished."

Blatter, who had first joined FIFA in 1975 and took over the presidency from Joao Havelange in 1998, had earlier indicated that he was ready to stand down when his current term ends but more recently said he could continue.

UEFA president Michel Platini, who had been thought the most likely candidate to succeed Blatter, has yet to announce whether he will put his name forward for next year's elections but told Le Parisien last month he was confident he would be successful.

Meanwhile, Blatter also looked ahead to this summer's World Cup in Brazil during the event at the Ringier Pressezentrum.

"That's my 10th World Cup," he said. "My first one was in 1978. Brazil -- that will be something gigantic, something grand."